A student leader is pushing back against a new policy at the Lerner Health and Wellness Center that cuts late-night workout hours.
Complaints from students cropped up early this semester after the gym began kicking patrons out at 11:30 p.m., an hour and a half earlier than in past years.
While the gym’s official 11:30 closing time remains the same, the previously lax approach to clearing exercisers from the building has been replaced this semester with a firmer rule designed to make the center’s operations more efficient.
Now with a “hard-close” at 11:30 p.m., all those working out or staffing the gym will be required to leave.
Student Association Senator Josh Goldstein, U-CCAS, plans to meet with Associate Athletic Director Andre Julien next week to attempt to forge a compromise on the hours.
Goldstein said he hopes “to make a solution that works for everyone,” adding anecdotally that the 11 p.m. to midnight time frame was popular for many students. He decided to take on the issue after hearing about 10 complaints from students that the new hours restricted their ability to fit exercise into their school and work schedules.
But a spokesperson for the Athletics and Recreation Department said, after a review of the building’s operations last fall, staff learned that the gym was infrequently used after 11:30 p.m.
Brian Sereno, executive director for athletics communications, described the review as an “ongoing assessment of our efficiencies.”
“To ensure peak efficiency and staffing during the hours the center is used, we decided to close operations at 11:30 p.m.,” he said. “The expenditures to operate the facility as compared to the relatively low number of users after 11:30 p.m. does not justify staying open any later.”
Sereno declined to provide an estimate of how much money would be saved by stopping operations earlier in the evenings, but emphasized that the new policy was geared toward “efficiency of financial and human resources – not strictly about saving money.”
Sophomore and Lerner Health and Wellness employee Nike John estimated about 15 or 20 students per night had utilized the facilities during the late-night hours. John, who sometimes works the closing shift at the gym, said she turned away upset students who didn’t know about the change.
The gym at West Hall will remain open 24 hours a day by the end of January, Mount Vernon Campus Life announced last week in its weekly newsletter. Students can access the facility by tapping a GWorld.
The gym – much smaller than its Foggy Bottom counterpart – opened last fall.
Breaking News: Josh Goldstein is having a meeting with a real life administrator!
Christ, what a tool that guy is.
Hey, he is not a tool. He’s a very nice young gentleman if you get to know him, as I have.
As someone who works at the gym I can say that not one sentence of this article is true. First of all, the gym never was open until 1 am. Everyone had to be out by 12:30 am, but no one was allowed in past 11:30pm, so people were still turned away.
Also, employees do not get to leave right at 11:30. We try to get out as early as possible obviously, but sometimes it takes an extra 30 minutes to clear everything out and shut down. Last semester we sometimes wouldn’t leave until 1 am and had to be paid until that time. Again, another false statement this article makes.
There are no good sources in this article because anyone important denied to comment on such an absurd and exaggerated article with blatant lies in it. Honestly, there are more pressing issues in the university then a policy that will affect 3 people. Compared to other universities, we have the most efficient system.
I think YOU need to do a little more research. GW has the most efficient system? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Have you even researched what other university gym hours are like? I am sorry, but I happen to be and know MANY more than 3 students who are negatively affected due to this recent changes at Helwel.
Some people ACTUALLY prefer working out at night after all their work and closing at 11:30 is just simply bogus especially how much every student pays for their Helwel “membership” in our tuition.
QUIT whining about leaving work at 1AM when you are getting paid to stay and if that is too late for you, GET ANOTHER JOB!
Speaking of whining…talking about how you deserve whatever you want b/c of your tuition is the most obnoxious “GW thing” you can say, not to mention unoriginal. The reason the gym is closing early is because of the school forcing these cuts, along with other budget cuts that we don’t want to make. Everyone at the gym is also a student who pays tuition, keep that in mind.
The fact is this article approaches the issues from a completely unrealistic approach and just made up half of the information in order to rile people up, which is why it shouldn’t even be acknowledged.
Josh Goldstein shouldn’t mind, the hours of Campus Fresh will be unaffected
Not cool. That’s way out of line. Grow up.
Why can’t an up-tight yuppie take a joke?
“Do your research” is right. I have also worked at the gym, and find most of this article very inaccurate for something that calls itself a ‘newspaper.’ Talking to Andre Julien won’t help, because like most people, he’s just a chain in the hierarchy and bureaucracy GW Campus Recreation. His bosses make more influential decision, namely Patrick Nero, the new athletic director. He’s the one who makes decisions like budget cuts, many of which he’s made to the Lerner Health and Wellness Center, forcing (not allowing) us to fire staff and close earlier. In a school like this, one must go to the source, and Mr. Julien will tell you that his hands are tied, as are most in this situation.
For the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, students were allowed to remain in the gym until 1am. I remember because I would often workout from 11ish till 1.